The present invention is directed towards an apparatus and method to prevent the retrieval of paper currency that is inserted into a vending machine adapted to accept paper currency in exchange for goods or services.
The popularity and presence of vending machines in the self-service market is constantly increasing. Vending machines are used, for example, to dispense change, food, drinks, and other goods, as well as to initiate services such as at a laundromat or car wash. As such machines are meant to provide self-service, they are often located in environments that are unattended by representatives of the owners of the machines. These unattended vending machines are an inviting target for those individuals who would seek to cheat the machines into dispensing their associated goods or services without properly paying for them.
One method that is employed in this type of theft is to attach a tether or string to a valid currency. In general, vending machines include mechanisms to transport paper currency along a paper currency path, validate the currency, and then store the currency. In this theft method, a tethered currency is inserted into a vending machine and as the paper currency travels along the currency path and into the storage mechanism, the tether trails behind and remains in the currency path and extends outside the vending machine. After the machine has dispensed the good or service, the tether is used to remove the valid currency from the machine. The prevention of theft by this method of removing valid paper currency from a vending machine is the goal of this invention.
Different anti-tether devices exist in the prior art. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,656 issued to Gorgone et al. This device involves a barrel located along the path taken by the paper currency. After the paper currency passes through the barrel, the barrel is caused to rotate about an axis perpendicular to the direction of the paper currency path. The barrel is prevented from being rotated in a reverse direction when the tether is pulled by mechanical means such as gears or needle bearings.
However, the barrel device suffers from several deficiencies. The mechanical barrel substantially increases the path along which the paper currency must travel, thereby creating greater space requirements in an already constrained environment within the vending machine. Further, the barrel requires additional mechanical anti-rotation equipment that adds expense and can be subject to malfunction. The device is also difficult to install as an after-market addition to existing vending machines because of the required increase in the length of the currency path.